2. The main idea of Araby by James Joyce: the naïve fantasies of
childhood often develop into confused infatuations when a child is
on the cusp of adolescence, and the consequent realization that
reality is not responsive to one’s intense desires can naturally
cause an equally intensely felt swing toward depressed
disillusionment. Being in the throes of his first real disappointment
in life, the narrator is as yet unable to look at things from a wider,
more detached view.
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF
“ARABY”
3. Title
01.
Araby
Author
02.
James Joyce
Publication Date
03.
1914
Genre
04.
Short Story
Characters
05.
The narrator, the narrator’s uncle,
the narrator’s aunt, Mangan’s
sister, the priest, Mrs. Mercer,
young female shopkeeper, and
Mangan.
Moral Lesson
06.
In pursuit of one’s desires, one must
not be blinded by prospects, get
their hopes up too high, or disregard
crucial or enjoyable experiences and
people around them.
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF “ARABY”
4. Setting
07.
The story called “Araby” is set in
Dublin, Ireland, in a lot of
different places around the
city. He is on the street
where he lives, North
Richmond Street, at the
beginning of the story.
Theme
08.
The main theme in “Araby” is the loss of innocence and religion both
public and private.
“Araby” touches on a great number of themes:
- Coming of age
- Meeting of imagination with reality
- The life of the mind versus poverty (both physical and intellectual)
- The consequences of idealization
- The Cathloc Church’s influence to make Dublin a place of
asceticism where desire and sensuality are seen as immoral
- The pain that often comes when one encounters love in reality
instead of its elevated form
- Paralysis
These theme build on one another entirely through the thoughts of the
young boy, who is portrayed by the first-person narrator, who writes
from memory.
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF “ARABY”
5. Summary
09.
INTRINSIC ELEMENTS IN “ARABY”
In the “Araby” summary, a young boy comparable in age and temperament to the characters in “the
sisters” and “an encounter”, develops feelings for Mangan’s sister, a girl who lives across the street.
One evening, she asks him if he expects to attend Araby, a bazaar (a market hosted, most likely by a
church, to raise money for charity). The girl will be away on a retreat at the time of the bazaar, so she
will be unable to attend. The kid pledges to bring her something from Araby if he travels. The asks for
and is granted permission to attend the market on Saturday night. However, when Saturday night
arrives, his uncle arrives home late, possibly after visiting a pub after work. The boy receives money
for the market after much agonizing waiting, but by the time he arrives in Araby, it is too late. The
celebration is wrapping up for the night, and he doesn’t have enough money to give Mangan’s sister
anything nice. In frustration, the boy sobs.
7. EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF “ARABY”
The Background The Historical Context
“Araby” a short story by James
Joyce, is about a young boy in
Ireland infatuated with the gil living
across the street.
The story of “Araby” is very much
grounded in the rality of Joyce’s
own story. When he was young his
family lived in a suburb of Dublin,
Ireland, and in 1894 the Joyce’s
lived in a house on North Richmond
Street, just as the narrator does.
8. Author’s Purpose Biography of Author
James Joyce’s purpose in
writing “Araby” was to
emphasize the difference
between the world, the
church, or society in general,
creates and the real world. In
“Araby”, he also displays to
the reader the drastic
change a loss of innocence.
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce
was an Irish novelist, poet,
and literary critic. He
contributed to the modernist
avant-garde movement and
is regarded as one of the
most influential and
important writers of the 20th
century.
EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF “ARABY”
9. The Reason of Author Made “Araby”
The term Araby, as the title of the story, is used
symbolically. It does not mean here simply the
bazaar after that oriental name. It represents
and ideal- an ideal of romance and beauty-
which haunts the mind, that is lost in the dull
reality of a work-a-day world.
EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF “ARABY”